Omicron Scapegoating and the Socio-Economic Implications for Vaccine Poor African Countries

The document condemns the travel bans imposed by the US, EU, and Canada on Southern African countries after the detection of the Omicron variant, describing them as 'unjustified and lacking scientific basis'. It argues that these measures penalize South Africa for its scientific transparency and ignore the 'vaccine apartheid' that left Africa as the most under-vaccinated continent, with only 6.66% of its population fully vaccinated. The authors state that these restrictions cripple struggling economies, specifically impacting tourism which accounts for 3% of South Africa's GDP, 11% for Namibia, and 13% for Botswana. Furthermore, the text highlights the role of 'vaccine nationalism' and the refusal of the EU, Switzerland, and Japan to waive intellectual property rights for vaccines as structural failures in the global pandemic response.

• Travel restrictions imposed by the US, EU, and Canada on Southern African countries were issued before the WHO declared the B.1.1.529 variant a 'variant of concern' and are described as 'unjustified and lacking scientific basis'.
• The document identifies a severe disparity in vaccine distribution, termed 'vaccine apartheid', noting that while rich countries have fully vaccinated over 70% of their populations, African countries have fully vaccinated only 6.66%.
• The travel bans are expected to severely impact the tourism sectors of Southern African nations, where tourism represents 3% of South Africa's GDP, 11% of Namibia's, and 13% of Botswana's.
• The authors argue that the global response is hindered by the refusal of the EU, Switzerland, and Japan to support a temporary waiver of Covid-19 vaccine intellectual property (IP) rights proposed by South Africa and India.

APA

Abimbola, O., Prempeh, C., Simeoni, C., Iyer, N., Braganza, J. R., Links, S., Ampofo, N. A., Chivhanga, W., Aggad, F., Iroulo, L. C., Chair, C., Mosioma, A., & Ndzendze, B. (2021). Omicron Scapegoating and the Socio-Economic Implications for Vaccine Poor African Countries. Africa Policy Research Institute. https://afripoli.org/omicron-scapegoating-and-the-socio-economic-implications-for-vaccine-poor-african-countries

Chicago

Abimbola, Olumide, Claudia Prempeh, Crystal Simeoni, Neema Iyer, Jason Rosario Braganza, Stacey Links, Nana Adu Ampofo, et al. Omicron Scapegoating and the Socio-Economic Implications for Vaccine Poor African Countries. Africa Policy Research Institute, 2021. https://afripoli.org/omicron-scapegoating-and-the-socio-economic-implications-for-vaccine-poor-african-countries.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Abimbola |first1=Olumide |last2=Prempeh |first2=Claudia |last3=Simeoni |first3=Crystal |last4=Iyer |first4=Neema |last5=Braganza |first5=Jason Rosario |last6=Links |first6=Stacey |last7=Ampofo |first7=Nana Adu |last8=Chivhanga |first8=Willson |last9=Aggad |first9=Faten |display-authors=etal |title=Omicron Scapegoating and the Socio-Economic Implications for Vaccine Poor African Countries |publisher=Africa Policy Research Institute |date=2 December 2021 |url=https://afripoli.org/omicron-scapegoating-and-the-socio-economic-implications-for-vaccine-poor-african-countries |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{abimbola2021omicron, author = {Abimbola, Olumide and Prempeh, Claudia and Simeoni, Crystal and Iyer, Neema and Braganza, Jason Rosario and Links, Stacey and Ampofo, Nana Adu and Chivhanga, Willson and Aggad, Faten and Iroulo, Lynda Chinenye and Chair, Chenai and Mosioma, Alvin and Ndzendze, Bhaso}, title = {{Omicron Scapegoating and the Socio-Economic Implications for Vaccine Poor African Countries}}, publisher = {Africa Policy Research Institute}, year = {2021}, month = dec, url = {https://afripoli.org/omicron-scapegoating-and-the-socio-economic-implications-for-vaccine-poor-african-countries}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }